Retractable device to hold a knife block on a barbecue grill

ABSTRACT

A retracting device to hold a knife block on a barbecue grill has a telescopic rail, a bracket and a cylinder. The barbecue grill has a base, a grill and two wing shelves. The telescopic rail is mounted on the base. The cylinder is secured to the base, and a retractable rod extends from the cylinder. The bracket is attached to the telescopic rail and the bracket and corresponds to a through hole defined in one of the wing shelves. Accordingly, a knife block on the bracket can be lifted to a position where the knives are exposed from the through hole in the wing shelf. The knife block can also be retracted to a position where the knife block with the knives is located below the wing shelf to keep anyone from touching the knives when the knives are not in use.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a retractable device, and moreparticularly to a retractable device to hold a knife block on a barbecuegrill, which can lift the knife block to a position to select or storeknives.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art

[0004] A barbecue grill is used to cook or barbecue food with a heatsource. The conventional barbecue grill substantially comprises a baseand a grill. The base has a top, a front, a rear and two sides. Thegrill is mounted on the top of the base so the grill is at a convenientposition for use. In addition, two wing shelves are usually respectivelymounted on opposite sides of the base to support food or tools forbarbecuing such as knives, forks, dishes, etc. In practice, knives areusually stored in a knife block to easily transport or store the knives.Furthermore, the knife block and the knives are usually put on the wingshelves of the barbecue grill when cooking. However, the knife block andthe knives must be stored separately when the barbecue grill is notbeing used. Having to retrieve and store the knife block when thebarbecue grill is to be used is inconvenient. Furthermore, using theknives without a knife block can be hazardous, especially to children.

[0005] To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides aretractable device to hold a knife block to mitigate or obviate theaforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The main objective of the invention is .to provide a retractingdevice for a barbecue grill that can lift a knife block to a positionfor use. The barbecue grill has a base, a grill and two wing shelvesrespectively mounted on sides of the base. The retracting device has atelescopic rail, a bracket and a cylinder. The telescopic rail ismounted on the base of the barbecue grill. The bracket is mounted on thetelescopic rail and corresponds to a through hole defined in one of thewing shelves of the barbecue grill. The cylinder is attached to the baseand has a retractable rod connected to the bracket. With such aretracting device, a knife block with multiple knives can be put on thebracket. The knife block can be lifted to a position where the knivesare exposed from the through hole in the wing shelf for use. The knifeblock can also be moved to a position where the knife block with theknives is below the wing shelf to keep anyone from touching the kniveswhen the knives are not in use.

[0007] Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the inventionwill become more apparent from the following detailed description whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a barbecue grill with aretractable device to hold a knife block in accordance with the presentinvention;

[0009]FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the wing shelf of thebarbecue grill and the retractable device to hold a knife block in FIG.1; and

[0010]FIG. 3 is an operational side plan view in partial section of theretractable device to hold a knife block in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0011] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a retractable device (20) inaccordance with the present invention to hold a knife block (30) for abarbecue grill comprises a telescopic rail (22), a bracket (24) and acylinder (26). The barbecue grill comprises a base (10), a grill (12)and two wing shelves (14). The base (10) has a top, a front, a rear andtwo sides. The grill (12) is mounted on the top of the base (10) to cookor barbecue food. The wing shelves (14) are respectively mounted onopposite sides of the base (10) to support food or tools for barbecuing. A through hole (16) is defined in one of the wing shelves (14). Acover (17) is pivotally attached to the wing shelf (14) with a hinge toclose the through hole (16).

[0012] The telescopic rail (22) is securely attached to the base (10) ofthe barbecue grill. The telescopic rail (22) has a stationary track(222) securely attached to the base (10) and a sliding element (224)slidably mounted in the stationary track (222). The bracket (24) issecurely attached to the sliding element (224) and aligns with thethrough hole (16) in the wing shelf (14). The cylinder (26) is securelyattached to the base (10) and has a retractable rod (262) connected tothe bottom of the bracket (24).

[0013] With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, a knife block (30) with multipleknives (32) is put on and supported on the bracket (24). In a storedposition, the knife block (30) with the knives (32) is located below thewing shelf (14). When the user wants to use a knife (32), the cylinder(26) is actuated and extends the retractable rod (262) thereby movingthe bracket (24) with the knife block (30) upward relative to the base(10). The sliding element (224) of the telescopic rail (22) moves withthe bracket (24) relative to the stationary track (222). The telescopicrail (22) ensures that the movement of the bracket (24) is smooth andthe bracket (24) is aligned with the through hole (16) in the wing shelf(14). The cover (17) will pivot relative to the wing shelf (14) when theknife block (30) or one of the knives (32) contacts the cover (17) sothe through hole (16) is opened. The knife block (30) will be pushedthrough the through hole (16) thereby providing access to the knives(32) so the user can take a knife (32) out from the block (30) and usethe knives (32). When the user has finished using the knives (32), theknife block (30) with the knives (32) can be retracted to a positionbelow the wing shelf (14) by withdrawing the retractable rod (262) intothe cylinder (26). The cover (17) will automatically close the throughhole (16) when the knife block (30) and the knives (32) move to aposition where the knives (32) are below the wing shelf (14).Consequently, this can keep anybody from contacting the knives (32) whenthe knives (32) are not in use, such that the safety of using the knives(32) is improved. In addition, the knife block (30) with the knives (32)does not need to be stored separately from the barbecue grill, such thatthe use of the knives (32) with the barbecue grill is convenient.

[0014] Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of thepresent invention have been set forth in the foregoing description,together with details of the structure and function of the invention,the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail,especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts withinthe principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by thebroad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims areexpressed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A retractable device to hold a knife block on abarbecue grill that has a base and two wing shelves respectively mountedon opposite sides of the base, wherein a through hole is defined in onewing plates, the retracting device comprising: a telescopic rail adaptedto be mounted on the base of the barbecue grill; a bracket mounted onthe telescopic rail and adapted to correspond to the through hole in thewing shelf of the barbecue grill; and a cylinder with an retractable rodconnected to the bracket and adapted to be attached to the base.
 2. Theretractable device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the telescopic railhas a stationary track adapted to be securely attached to the base and asliding element slidably mounted in the stationary track and connectedto the bracket.